Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday Snippet

It’s another Saturday and a fresh batch of Sci-Fi Fantasy Snippets has just been pulled from the oven.  You can almost smell the creativity.  I’ve decided to leave GreenGrass on the shelf this time around and share a snippet from a current WIP.  The story revolves around family, legends, and some lesser known folklore.  I hope you enjoy my contribution this week.  Be sure to check out all of the great authors who post on Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday and leave a comment along the way.  They’re always appreciated.  Have a good weekend.   

          “We gettin’ close, Ray, so stay on your tip tops.”

          The flat bottomed boat glided passed a bramble of broken branches massed atop patches of floating vegetation.  All three men aboard the tiny vessel focused on the glowing green eyes that stared back at them from underneath the tangled trees.

          “I think I’d like my chances wit’ dat ol’ boy than what we’re after tonight,” Jimmy quipped as he kept the reptiles eyes reflecting in his flashlight’s beam until they passed.  He nervously rubbed a carved gris gris held by a rope around his neck and called over his shoulder.

          “Hope you brought a good luck charm of your own, Cap’n.  Me and Ray ain’t never been on no witch hunt ‘fore.”

          Securing a weathered journal into his shoulder satchel, the grizzled man hunched in the rear of the boat stared up into the starless blackened sky.

          “It’s a cauchemar to be exact, my friends.  A dead witch.” 

SciFi Fantasy Saturday Snippet

Hi all!  In this latest snippet from Welcome To GreenGrass, we take a minute to get a

closer look at Talyn, one of Traveller’s closest friends in the city of GreenGrass.  Talyn,

red skinned and fanged, looking much more the part of devil than devout, wears his

religion on his sleeve and finds his current situation a recurring test of his faith.  One of

the few concessions Talyn allows himself is a new found appreciation of art, specifically

creating it, but even there his new world finds a way of filtering in. Thanks for reading

and please be sure to check out all the great writers who share their work here on SciFi

Fantasy Saturday.  You’ll be glad you did. 

          Talyn stabbed the brush into a mix of green and yellow paint, sweeping the

material in broad and careless passes.  Follow the light and the light shall show me

the way.  Foregoing cleaning the bristles, he dunked the already bulging mound of paint

into the jar of red, pushing the handle harder than he intended.  All of life’s strength has

been placed within, we need only look.  By the time he added the last globs of blue,

Talyn’s breathing was heavy and sweat formed on his brow.  Look to the stars to find your    
            way home.  Running his fingers through his course black hair, Talyn hung his head low.  

          “But what happens when someone changes your stars?”

          Using the blunt end of the brush, Talyn carved a crude stick figure into the mass

of colors smeared over the canvass and watched as the paints dripped over his creation.

          “You and I, my washed over friend are both strangers in a world we didn’t ask to

be in."

Hazard Yet Forward Charity Anthology

Recently, I had the privilege of contributing a short story, Tangled Lines, to the Hazard Yet Forward charity anthology, which is currently being spotlighted in Jason Jack Miller's Sound Check at Inveterate Media Junkies (IMJ) today.  Please check it out at http://inveteratemediajunkies.com and be sure to check out the Hazard Yet Forward anthology.  It's a great book filled with fantastic authors for an even greater cause.  Here's the amazon link to purchase the book - http://www.amazon.com/Hazard-Yet-Forward-ebook/dp/B008TXBN8I 

The folks at IMJ should get a huge pat on the back for contributing space on their site to promote this and the authors who helped to put it all together for this promotion.

Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday Snippet #4

         Hi all!  This snippet picks up after Traveller returns home and we're given a first look at some of Traveller's makeshift family in the strange world of GreenGrass.  Hopefully you'll find the characters as colorful and fun as I did writing them.  Make sure you check out and comment on all of the great snippets here on Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday from a group of wonderful writers! 

 

          The ground shook under Traveller’s feet as Bonz dropped the stones in each hand to change positions, reminding Traveller that he was on a peace keeping mission. 

          “OK, big guy, just when you go back in the house, don’t hassle Sil about food.  We’ll order some pizzas from the human district.  We haven’t had any of those in a couple cycles.”

          “Pizza.  One of the few things the soft skins have actually brought to this red mud hole that account for anything.”

          “I accept that compliment on behalf of all soft skins.  Where’s Talyn?”

          “Where else?  Up in his cubicle, praying to his false prophets.”

          “I’m going to go check on him.  He hasn’t been acting like himself since our last gig when we ran into that goon in enchanter’s village.  He keeps saying that he’s losing himself.”

          “A pacifist has no place in battle, friend Traveller.”

          “Yeah, well, Talyn just needs a little space.  Don’t we all?”

The Most Interesting Writer In The World #18

Used his royalty checks to sculpt a paper mache bust of himself and sold it for twice the value.

The Most Interesting Writer In The World #17

He has his own font named after him and he doesn't use it.

Giant multi-author anthology on sale Tuesday, August 7 to benefit cancer fighter.

My story "Tangled Lines" is part of the charity anthology, Hazard Yet Forward. I'm glad to be asked to be part of such an elite group for a great cause. And I am in excellent company.

Matt Duvall, Natalie Duvall, and Deanna Lepsch compiled the nearly 700 page, multi-genre eBook with stories from seventy-six writers who are connected to the Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction program. 

All proceeds from this project will benefit Donna Munro, a 2004 graduate of the program.  Munro, a teacher living in St. Louis, Missouri, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  An active member of the SHU WPF alumni committee, Munro helps organize the school’s annual writing conference, the In Your Write Mind Workshop.

To aid Munro and her family, faculty members, alumni, students and friends of the Writing Popular Fiction program quickly responded to compile this massive anthology.  The book features flash fiction, short stories and even a full-length novella.  In total, there are 75 works from various genres, which makes this anthology one that features something for everyone. Genres represented in the book range from horror to romance to mystery – and everything in between. 

Some of the notable writers in the anthology are:

World Fantasy Award winner Nalo Hopkinson

Bram Stoker winner Michael A. Arnzen

Bram Stoker winner Michael Knost

Bram Stoker nominee Lawrence C. Connolly

ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults winner Jessica Warman

Rhysling nominees John Edward Lawson and K. Ceres Wright

Rita finalist Dana Marton

Spur winner Meg Mims

Asimov’s Readers’ Award winner Timons Esaias

WV Arts and Humanities literary fellowships winner Geoffrey Cameron Fuller.

Hazard Yet Forward co-compiler Matt Duvall says, "It’s an unprecedented collection of stories from every genre imaginable." 

This large volume is available for purchase on Kindle through Amazon starting August 7 for just $9.99.

More information about the anthology can be found at http://hazardyetforward.wordpress.com. 

To learn about the unique and exciting Writing Popular Fiction program, please visit http://www.setonhill.edu/academics/fiction.

Contact:  Natalie Duvall - hazardyetforwardanthology@gmail.com